Talk:Malachite/@comment-2601:1C2:700:18EF:D9A2:F406:CA67:215A-20190525224956
Queen Wasp looked sort of young-ish (maybe in her early thirties?) and she was sort of pretty---tanned skin, long fingernails, high cheekbones, sleek yellow-and-black gown, and blonde hair braided over one shoulder. But her pitch-black eyes were pretty unnerving. "You're Lady Jewel's boy, aren't you?" she muttered, squinting at Treehopper. "What do you want?" "Like I said, I want to see my best friend. Malachite? The guy you kidnapped a couple months back? Ring any bells?" Shut up you little idiot! his brain screamed. You're going to get yourself arrested! Wasp arched one of her eyebrows. "Why exactly would you want to see him?" "Because his girlfriend's pregnant," Treehopper answered truthfully. She examined her fingernails. "All right, I'll pass that along." "No, I want to see him," he argued. "There's a couple of other things I want to say---" "I said I would pass that along," Wasp hissed. Something in her eyes made Treehopper shiver a little. There was a spark in there... something not human. There was something weird about the guards' eyes, he remembered. What was it? Suddenly his mind went blank. He couldn't move. Couldn't blink. Couldn't scream. "Can you hear me, little prince?" Wasp's voice sang inside his head. Her lips never moved. "Can you hear me?" What the actual f---'' '"None of the other royals are subject to this, you know,"' her voice continued, only now she was talking through his ''mouth. "You're the odd one out, Treehopper. Just like everywhere else. I'll release you when you're out of this building---and don't bother coming again." The next thing he knew, he was catching his breath in an alleyway, his knees and elbows scraped like he'd been forcibly ejected---which he had. "She can control us," Treehopper whispered. "All of us." No, not all of us, he realized. Otherwise there wouldn't be people like Cinnabar, who protest against being repressed. Is it just for white people, or what? And how am I going to tell Tau? How can I tell her that there's no such thing as secrets? (Time skip; Fathom POV) "How is that even possible?" Cinnabar exclaimed. "This is real life! This isn't a fantasy world with dragons and wizards!" "You really think I would lie about something like that?" Treehopper demanded. "Trust me, I wouldn't be saying this if it wasn't true." Sunstreak and Clearsight exchanged a look---not one of their romantic looks, but one of their looks that meant "We know what's going on here." And Fathom had an inkling, too. "S-She might be a magical," he mumbled. Everyone looked at him---Tau and Katydid with confusion, Cinnabar and Treehopper with disbelief, Sunstreak, Clearsight, and Whiteout with surprise, and Indigo with "what on earth are you doing." "I literally just said this isn't a fantasy world," Cinnabar sighed. "No, go on," Katydid prompted. "What's a magical?" "They..." Well, no backing out now. "They're humans, but they've got powers of some sort. Whiteout and Darkstalker were named after a couple of their ancestors who were Animuses---they're basically like wizards. And you all know about Clearsight the Seer... there's one that originated in Ireland called Dyrads, that's control of plants---" "How do you know all this?" Tau asked. Fathom hunched his shoulders. "I... might also be an Animus? But I don't ever use it, so it should hardly count..." "Wait a minute," Treehopper realized, pointing at Sunstreak. "You knew about this!" "By accident! Fathom was just showing Whiteout something---" "Guys, cool down," Katydid said, holding up her hands. "Do you know a kind that can do mind control?" Indigo shook his head. "Me and Fath know a lot about this---our namesakes had powers, too. But there's never been one that can control other people. I don't think Wasp is a magical." ------------ The suspense! Congrats to Billalina for guessing where this was going. I promise that at least by the next chapter, I'll introduce Belladonna and Hemlock. Also baby Sundew. And some of the Knight's "family issues" will come into play... and we'll learn a little bit about Clearsight's past. (I figured you guys deserve spoilers.) ---Starry the NightWing